Exposure
by koalabear
Summary: Set just after season one so there are spoilers for a lot of season 1 topics. A form of catharsis for Logan and Veronica.


**Exposure**  
Spoilers: Pretty much all of season 1  
Classification: Ummm, some adult language and concepts  
Notes: Another draft from me. I haven't got their voices right but I like the sentiment. Any bored betaless people who have time, please feel free ….

* * *

For some reason the layout of the story is completely screwed up in fanfiction. To read the piece as it's supposed to read, go to my livejournal - the link is in my profile. For some reason I can't post it here...

They sat for a moment facing one other.

"You go first." they both said at the same time. There was an awkward pause.

"No ….. " Logan began.

"I think you should go first," Veronica told him, her eyes very serious and he slumped back in his chair and took a swallow of his drink.

"All right." he agreed reluctantly.

Veronica closed her eyes and waited.

"You suspected me of having murdered Lilly, you didn't voice your suspicions to me, reported me to the sheriff …. before finding out that it was in fact my father who murdered Lilly …. while he was having a torrid affair with her."

His voice was even, his eyes were expressionless and Veronica let out a deep breath, opened her eyes and looked almost relieved.

"Tough ones out of the way first, I guess."

She pulled her jacket off and tossed it onto the sofa where it landed on a cushion. They both watched it fly through the air and then land. Then they turned back to face one another

"Your turn." he told her.

"You doped Duncan at Shelly Pomroy's party."

Logan swallowed hard.

"Yeah, I did."

His hands went to his sweater which he removed in one quick gesture, throwing it onto the sofa to join Veronica's jacket.

"_I'm not leaving."_

"_It's kind of a bad time."_

"_Okay. So I should come back when, never? That work for you?"_

_She stared at him, searching his face for signs of guilt._

"_What did I do, Veronica? Can you just tell me so that I can apologise or explain?"_

_Veronica couldn't control herself now. "Explain. Okay. Explain to me why you were the one with GHB the night of Shelly Pomeroy's party when someone drugged and raped me." At his lock of complete shock she demanded," Explanation? Apology?"_

"_You were raped?" he demanded as if in disbelief. He leaned forward as if to hold her._

"_Okay, don't! Seriously!"_

_He stayed back, shock on his face. "What happened to you?"_

"_You tell me."_

"_Wait. Wait a second, you think-"_

"_I was told you were the one with the drugs."_

"_Yeah. I got some Liquid X when I was in Tijuana with Luke and Sean. We were just gonna have some fun."_

"_Fun? Like sex with unconscious people fun?" she asked._

"_No, fun like go to a rave fun." he said defensively._

"_Oh. Okay. You've convinced me. Bygones." she said sarcastically._

"_What can I do? What can I do to make it better?" he demanded in bewilderment. Part of Veronica was marvelling that that there was no anger or rage in him, only a a very genuine-looking bewilderment and shock at what she was telling him. She ignored the stab of doubt. _

"_I'm going to find out who did this to me and I'm going to make them pay. Even if it was you." she told him bitingly._

_A devastated Logan stared at her speechlessly._

"_Sorry. I have to go throw up now." she told him. _

"You accused me of supplying the drugs that were used to dope you at Shelly Pomroy's party when in fact it was Dick who spiked Madison's drink which she inadvertently passed onto you. At the time you accused me of being responsible for your rape."

His voice shook slightly but he controlled it immediately and Veronica's face twisted but she said nothing.

"I'm sorr….." Veronica began. The expression on his face from that day still haunted her. He had been so genuinely stunned and she had been so full of grief, humiliation and revenge.

He held up a hand. "No apologies, remember?" he reminded her and she stopped mid-word, her eyes filled with tears, slightly shocked when she saw that his dark eyes were shining with tears as well.

She leaned over and unlaced her shoes, kicking them off and she let out a deep breath and shrugged.

"OK, you smashed out the lights on my car – all the time bearing a smug, smart-ass smile on your face."

"_Do you know what your little joke cost me?"_

"_Well, I'm pretty sure you won't be getting your bong back."_

_Logan swung the crowbar and smashed one of the headlights on her car. Veronica flinched. Logan grins and twirled the crowbar, his smile unsettling and very calm._

"_Wrong answer. Would you care to guess again?"_

"_Clearly your sense of humour."_

_Logan smashed the other headlight._

"_Nope. You're usually so good at pop quizzes. No, the correct answer is my car. That's right. My Daddy took my T-Bird away. And you know what I won't be having? Fun, fun, fun."_

_Logan smirked and moved to stand directly in front of Veronica, the crowbar resting on the back of his neck. _

Veronica remembered that he had been so caught up in looking at her, he hadn't even notice the sound of motorbike engines pulling up. She remembered that she'd been looking right back. It had always been like that between them. Laughter, anger, hatred, spite, venom ….. but never indifference …… always that damned awareness that wouldn't go away no matter how hard she tried to bury it. What she'd had with Duncan had been sweet, pure and innocent …. fond and loving.

With Logan it was something completely different.

"You had planted a bong in my locker which via a series of twists and turns in the end led to me having the shit beaten out of me by Weevil at the beach. Fun, fun fun ….." Logan said evenly, no accusation in his eyes.

"_You, say you're sorry." Weevil said threateningly._

_Logan chuckled insincerely. "Rub a lamp." He winked and smirked, completely uncowed by Weevil's threat._

_Veronica watched in obvious discomfort as Weevil punched him in the stomach and Logan was down on the ground, bent over in pain._

"_I said, say you're sorry."_

_Logan got back up and faced Weevil again. "Kiss my ass."_

_Weevil threw another punch to Logan's face. Logan went down again. Why he didn't fight back was unclear, there was a certain "fuck you" defiance in his face as he stood up again, blood coming from his nose. His eyes were defiant and although he did not hit back, he still wasn't going to apologise._

"I didn't apologise to you." Logan said softly, a note of apology in his voice and in his eyes.

"Remember Logan, you just said it yourself … we're not saying sorry now." Logan nodded, a rather set smile on his lips.

"Logan…. "

"Veronica?"

"Apart from taking your T-Bird away …. "

"Veronica." his voice was warning, his dark eyes telling her not to continue.

"… were there any other repercussions from your father?"

Logan didn't reply, his jaw was set and he looked down at his hands, staring at the long, strong fingers.

"Someone's still thinking about Tall Tales with Trina." he said lightly, a self-mocking smile twisting his mouth as he looked up at her again, a studiedly devil may care expression on his face.

"Logan."

"Those aren't the rules, Veronica." he reminded her softly.

"Logan I want to know."

"Your turn." he told her flatly, his expression telling her that he wasn't going to answer and his refusal to answer telling her everything she needed to know.

Veronica took another deep breath. "I planted the bong because you'd pissed me off by torturing me since Lilly's death, humiliating me at every single opportunity, always mocking me, calling me trailer trash and ho, ho _ho_ …. AND letting the air out of my tyres all the time.

"That last bit wasn't me."

"Well you at least enjoyed it when it happened." she said glaring at him and his lips twitched despite himself.

"I take the fifth." he countered.

"You were smug." she told him. "You rolled an apple across my car and looked sooooo smug."

"But I didn't do it."

"I'm sure it had your approval."

"Veronica …"

"You at least owe me shoes."

He leaned over and unlaced his shoes. She smiled, resisting the urge to press a kiss to the nape of his neck. He threw his shoes over near hers and thought for a moment before speaking.

"You accused me of being involved with the smuggling of drugs by Luke from Tijuana back to Neptune when in fact it had nothing to do with me and when the drugs went missing, it was your low-down, smug smarmy son-of-a-bitch boyfriend Troy who had stolen them."

"_Time for a chat?"_

"_Well. Think if hell froze over, maybe it'd be on the news."_

"_I just wanna hear more about the steroids you bought last weekend."_

"_You mean the steroids Luke bought. Wow! You suck at this Nancy Drew stuff. You should get a new hobby."_

"_So you knew he was doing it." Veronica said accusingly._

_Logan smirked at her. You actually think that I would tell you anything?"_

"You were so smug and annoying about it." Veronica muttered and Logan lifted his eyebrows.

"You can't expect that to satisfy the criteria." He said in disbelief and Veronica glared at him. "You said my car came out of a cereal box even though I was there saving your no-good undeserving hide."

"You were there to rescue your smug smarmy son-of-a-bitch boyfriend Troy, called me a monkey and made me sit in the backseat," he retorted immediately and both of them looked at each other, trying not to betray any emotion.

"Maybe we both have to surrender a watch for that," he suggested and she nodded.

"All right."

"But you should also throw in a sock." She laughed despite herself and put the watch on the table and peeled off her left sock. He put his own watch on the table and she sat back and stared at him.

"When Duncan jumped off the bleachers and cracked his head, not only did you not help but you poured alcohol on him."

Logan unbuttoned his shirt slowly, his face expressionless. His gaze was not moving from Veronica's face and Veronica was watching his hands as if mesmerised, watching as each inch of flesh was revealed as he unbuttoned the shirt. Finally he pulled his shirt off, throwing it onto the sofa, very aware that Veronica's eyes were moving over his smooth, tanned flesh. His necklace rested against his skin, further emphasising the fact that he was shirtless.

Veronica's mouth was suddenly very dry.

"Your turn." she said a little huskily.

"_I know it was you." _

"_What was me?" Logan asked laughingly._

"_You stole your mom's credit cards but you made a mistake when you went to the Hotel Neptune Grand 'cause you let Caitlin sign for the room service tab."_

"_Well that's great. Prove it." Logan retorted, walking away, his face twisting slightly at Veronica's words._

"You accused me of having made credit card purchases and framing Weevil's grandmother and Weevil. In actual fact it was Chardo who made the purchases while in the course of banging my then girlfriend Caitlin."

Veronica's hands went to her jeans. She unbuttoned her jeans and with hands that were not entirely steady, she unzipped them and stepped out of her jeans, kicking them away from her. Her eyes were defiant as Logan watched her. He was completely still, only his dark, dark eyes following her every move, caressing every single inch of bare flesh with his gaze.

She couldn't think of anything at that moment, was only aware that she could barely breathe and that his gaze was like a caress.

"Pass." she whispered.

"_Bravo, Logan. It's a new low. And just when the critics were having some doubts."_

"_Mmm. Must be talking about your, uh, narc friend, W-W-W-Wanda."_

_He laughed although Veronica continued to just stare at him._

"_Well, isn't it time that you found another bad guy?"_

_Veronica continued to give him a hard, searching look. Logan's face adopted a serious expression. "Look, I just don't…have time to be responsible for every little thing that goes wrong in your life." he told her bluntly._

"You accused me of having something to do with the "narc" accusations thrown at that "narc" Wanda Varner …."

"I still don't know who did that!" she retorted.

"Well it wasn't me. I'm surprised you didn't accuse me of tampering with the "how to vote" cards the first time around."

"No, I know that was Madison." she said grumpily although I'm sure you knew about it.

He grinned wickedly. "OK I'll let you have one sock for that." He told her and took off his remaining sock as she removed her tank top, blushing furiously and trying not to show that she cared. She heard Logan catch his breath and then regain control of himself as his eyes moved over the full swell of her breasts which covered by the almost demure cotton bra she wore.

"Nice bra." he managed and she shot a dirty look at him.

"No, it's really nice." he managed to say again and swallowed hard. "I didn't know Victoria's Secret did a convent line." he quipped even though the sight of that demure cotton bra was even sexier than the most raunchy of lacy numbers.

"You made horrible, horrible racist comments about Weevil." she told him and he took off the other sock.

He thought for a moment and then spoke. "You accused me of stealing the poker winnings from Weevil when it was actually Sean …."

Veronica almost froze but rules were rules, a deal was a deal and she took a deep breath and reached back to unhook the clasp of her bra.

"_God _Veronica." he said before he could stop himself and she glared at him defiantly as the cool air washed over her bare skin.

"You're just perky all over." he joked.

"Shut _up_."

"Dare I hope it's me or is it just the cold air?"

"I _said _shut up." she said through clenched teeth.

"I never knew breasts could blush." he said, trying to mask the fact that his heart was racing like a rabbit's, his throat was dry and was wondering if she would notice if he adjusted his jeans. She lifted her head proudly, aware that she was topless except for her choker.

"You staged bum fights, preying on the homeless and the downtrodden – all for your own selfish, spoiled amusement." She told him and the laughter faded from his eyes.

He nodded, his eyes serious again. He unbuttoned and unzipped his jeans. The sound made Veronica blush and she wanted to look away but his eyes were challenging her and so she feigned a nonchalance she definitely did not feel and watched as he took his jeans off.

"Well this is ….. _intimate_." he quipped. "I feel like one of us should be stealing money and then framing the other."

"Calvin Klein boxers, how typical." she marvelled, trying not to ogle his body.

"Hey, I complimented you on your underwear! Be nice." he protested, winking at her, fully aware of the effect he was having on her. "Just be glad it's not my reindeer boxers."

It was his turn again and despite the joking in the previous few moments, Veronica was trembling uncontrollably, very aware that she was down to her last item of clothing. Her huge eyes were dilated and staring at him, wondering what he was going to say next and she stiffened when he rose from his chair and came to stand before her, drawing her to her feet.

His lips pressed against the pulse that was thumping madly in her throat, his fingers trailed lightly along the smooth, silken skin of her slender back. His fingertips brushed ever so lightly against her breasts.

His hands slid down her body, resting on her hips, his forehead pressed against hers as his fingers played with the top of her underwear, looping it around his fingertips as he slid them down slightly. She was fiercely aware that her breasts were pressed against his bare chest, that her breathing and Logan's breathing was ragged, that their flesh was hot and charged with awareness. She couldn't tell if it was her heartbeat pounding so loudly and quickly or his.

"Well. Lay on MacDuff,"she said challengingly, her eyes brave and defiant. His mouth curved into a smile of unbelievable sweetness and to her complete shock she saw him reach for her discarded bra, picking up one of her suddenly limp arms and slipping it through, then the other.

His arms went around her as he clasped it for her, his lips pressing a tender kiss to her bare shoulder just near the strap of her bra.

"You helped me find my mother even when deep down you probably knew it was a waste of time ……."

Her eyes were wide and raw with emotion as she stared at him in stunned amazement, every emotion she was feeling chasing across her face which was something new for her. She tilted her head to one side, staring at him, unable to believe what he was saying.

"Logan I …."

And then he was speaking again, picking her up tank top and pulling it over her head like she was a little girl, helping her pull her arms through as against he lowered his lips to kiss her on the jaw, playfully skirting away from her mouth, trailing his lips down her throat to rest between her breasts. The he drew back.

"You held me in your arms when I broke down and cried like a fucking baby." His voice was shaking and there were tears in her eyes.

"No Logan. No …. You came and rescued me like a goddamned hero when you thought that nutter Ben was after me. Leaping out like Superman to pound him into the floor." she said with a laugh, tears spilling down her cheeks.

"No Veronica. You rescued me. I thought things were over after Lilly died and then you kissed me, I stopped breathing, the world came to a standstill and you brought me back to a place I could be happy."

"No you jerk. That's mine. You can't have it. You _kissed_ me and rocked _my_ world." she told him, laughing and crying at the same time.

"Sssshhhh, sssshsh for christ's sake don't cry Veronica. Where's that tough-talking, poker sharking, take no prisoners skanky _ho_ I know so well" he said jokingly although looking a bit horrified at her tears. His hands cupped her face his thumbs brushing the tears away from her cheeks.

"And you forgave me even though I accused you of all those awful things."

"I know you only accuse me because you're obsessed with me." He teased her, making soothing noises as he kissed her on the lips. "Besides, you haven't lived until you've been accused of a crime you didn't commit by Veronica Mars."

She gave a choking laugh. "Are you some kind of masochist?"

"Annoy, tiny blonde one. Annoy like the wind!"

"I am not a _skanky _ho, you moron." she told him and he laughed.

"Nothing gets by you."

"Nope." She told him and her his eyes widened as he looked down and saw that mischievous laughter had entered her eyes. She slid her arms around his neck and kissed his lingeringly but then her hands slid down his bare shoulders, down his bare chest.

"You misuse computer class to try to find slake your desperate desire to see pictures of Alyssa Milano naked, you just called me skanky and worst of all - I saw you steal my french fries at lunch yesterday ……"

"Guilty." He conceded, his eyes alight with wicked anticipation.

She looked at him without speaking.

"So Nancy Drew ... what do you intend to do about it?"

He watched as she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of his boxer shorts ….

THE END


End file.
